Hearts’ Oisin McEntee sidelined for remainder of season

Derek McInnes revealed that influential Hearts player Oisin McEntee will miss the remainder of their William Hill Premiership title bid.

The versatile Irishman, who has been deployed at right-back, centre-back and midfield this term, went off with a hamstring injury in the second half of the 3-1 win over Motherwell earlier this month.

Hearts, a point ahead of Rangers at the top of the league, have since learned that McEntee will join Icelandic midfielder Tomas Magnusson in being sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

“Unfortunately for Oisin, we got bad news on the scan and he’ll be out for the season, which is a real blow for us,” said McInnes.

“We’re going to have to deal with it. Both Oisin and Tomas give us real strength. They give us real reliability, and they give us that real competitive nature.

“But I’m trying to focus on the ones that are available. As harsh as that is, we need to deal with the games without these boys. You have to try and contend with injuries as you go into this part of the season.”

McInnes said left-back Harry Milne – out for the last three games with a calf issue – is “progressing well” and “neither in or out” for Sunday’s visit to city rivals Hibernian.

The manager also revealed that Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has been “doing a bit of handling” as he recovers from a shoulder issue.

McInnes said his team’s warm-weather trip to Spain last week was “exactly what we hoped it would be” in terms of enjoying some “calm” before the final five games of their quest for a first top-flight title since 1960.

“I’m just so proud of the players,” said the manager, who refused to be drawn on reports that Hearts are set to sign French midfielder Tom Renaud from Versailles in the summer.

“A lot has been said about how we arrived at this situation, with the boardroom support, Jamestown (Analytics) and all the rest of it.

“But the players have been the biggest driver to get us to where we are – 70 points is a great number to get into the split. It’s the first time Hearts have done that at this stage.

“We’re the first team outwith Celtic or Rangers to be sitting top of the league going into the split. We just want to try and enjoy it now and finish off the job.

“It will be tough for each team because of the competitive nature of the top six, with the better teams.

“There’s still so much to play for. Falkirk, Hibs and Motherwell have got their own fights to deal with and obviously the three teams trying to win a title. Each game will be very competitive. I’m just delighted to be part of it.

“You want to enjoy it, but there’s a serious part to it in the sense that we’ve come this far and in any race or competition, it’s how you finish normally that matters.

“It’s the business end of it. We just want to finish it as strong as we can.”